Man accused of posting Facebook threats against police gets 3 1/2 years

A south suburban man accused of posting Facebook threats against police officers pleaded guilty last Thursday to a weapons charge.

Aries Woodfin, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm during a hearing before Judge Charles Burns, who sentenced him to 3 1/2 years in prison, court records show.

He was arrested last December after a woman saw the online threats and contacted Alabama police officials, who then contacted Chicago Police, the Chicago Sun-Times reported previously.

Woodfin, who is black, allegedly posted messages on Facebook threatening to kill police officers and “innocent white children,” a police source told the Sun-Times. He allegedly posted photos of white children on his Facebook account along with the threats.

A search of his Ford Heights home turned up a .45-caliber pistol and makeshift gun range in the basement with dozens of spent bullet casings of various calibers strewn on the floor, the source said.

When he was arrested, Woodfin allegedly told officers he was a “warrior” and the “streets would run red with blood,” the source said.

The alleged Facebook postings drew keen interest from law enforcement agencies because of the murders of New York Police Officers Ralph Ramos and Wenjian Liu on Dec. 20. They were shot to death without warning while sitting in their patrol car in Brooklyn.

Woodfin, of the 1300 block of Werline Avenue in Ford Heights, was given credit for 199 days spent in jail since his arrest, court records show. He must serve two years of mandatory supervised release after he completes his prison sentence.